Nice on Rooney starting. Kind of surprised by Mourinho not starting Torres. If he can get to the form he was in late last season, Chelsea will be in good shape. Really surprised by Mata not starting again. He was one of the keys to the team down the stretch last year. Hard to argue with a successful manager, though. Dang, a heavyweight match this early in the season? I like it. Hope the game lives up to the energy/hype.

Nice on Rooney starting. Kind of surprised by Mourinho not starting Torres. If he can get to the form he was in late last season, Chelsea will be in good shape. Really surprised by Mata not starting again. He was one of the keys to the team down the stretch last year. Hard to argue with a successful manager, though. Dang, a heavyweight match this early in the season? I like it. Hope the game lives up to the energy/hype.

Mata is rumored to being sold but I guess that hinges on Rooney being sold to Chelsea which would be stupid

Very good defense both ways. Not much space for players to work with offensively. It's going to take one amazing play to get on the board. United isn't even playing all that well and they look the better side. Chelsea is in need of some spark from the bench if they want to have a chance.

Nice on Rooney starting. Kind of surprised by Mourinho not starting Torres. If he can get to the form he was in late last season, Chelsea will be in good shape. Really surprised by Mata not starting again. He was one of the keys to the team down the stretch last year. Hard to argue with a successful manager, though. Dang, a heavyweight match this early in the season? I like it. Hope the game lives up to the energy/hype.

Mata is rumored to being sold but I guess that hinges on Rooney being sold to Chelsea which would be stupid

Ahh, didn't hear about the Mata rumor. I don't get either player moving, but I'm just a stupid fan. Rooney would be nuts to leave United (or them to let him go). Chelsea has a lot of players they need to sort out then (Torres, Ba, Luiz, Mata). Way too much talent on the bench being inactive. To be fair, Chelsea was way more interesting to watch last season. Much better tempo.

Real Madrid spending 100 Mill for Bale is just crazy stupid, but that club has the money to burn. Bale is certainly looking to be an incredible player, but he's no Messi, imo

Agreed on all points in that comment,as much as i loved Ronaldo,i still thought Real spending 80mil was too much for anybody(but i wasn't complaining as the money was coming in for Utd,I was just complaining for losing Ronaldo)

There is a rumour now that a second club has entered the race for Bale..but who knows what's the truth,at this time of the footy year,rumours are all over the place

I would LOVE to see Bale stay in the Premiere League. So if he is headed to Man UTd. thats frigging awesome. I'd hate to see him move out to Spanish league.

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That might be more in hope than anything else but it could happen, because by all accounts Real Madrid have not got all the money to put down for Gareth Bale and by all accounts they owe money [to Spurs] for Luka Modric.”

If thats a real hang up, then Bale might not be heading to Madrid. Wish would amuse me to no end!

In other news, I will Eat my hat if Bale doesn't end up at Madrid. I hope he does, because that means Di Maria / Ozil / Benzema (any or all would be great) to Arsenal is more likely.

Absolutely that could help promote that movement of personnel. But from what I read from teh various transfer columns its basically one to two of three and not all three. Those funds would help defray the Bale purchase and help fund the purchasing of Suarez from Liverpool -> Madrid. But also the transfer gossip is saying that the Suarez move has to come first before any of those Real Madrid players are moved to the Gunners.

In other news, I will Eat my hat if Bale doesn't end up at Madrid. I hope he does, because that means Di Maria / Ozil / Benzema (any or all would be great) to Arsenal is more likely.

Absolutely that could help promote that movement of personnel. But from what I read from teh various transfer columns its basically one to two of three and not all three. Those funds would help defray the Bale purchase and help fund the purchasing of Suarez from Liverpool -> Madrid. But also the transfer gossip is saying that the Suarez move has to come first before any of those Real Madrid players are moved to the Gunners.

Ugh, Fellaini would be depressing on United. No point, other than supporting Timmy Howard, to watch Everton if they deal Baines and Fellaini. I wonder how crazy it will get after the games this weekend with transfers. Some rumors have been nuts (especially the Arsenal raiding Real Madrid one). Looking forward to tomorrow's games. Should be another fun weekend woohoo. 4 am wakeup call again GO!

Chelsea don't play this weekend with them playing for the Super Cup tonight/last night(they lost on penalties ..again,heh heh),which is why they played middle of the week a week or two ago,so after this week everyone should be back on level games played

yeah the two derby's on Sunday should be good(North West Derby and North London Derby)...both Liverpool and United hate each other as do Arsenal and Spurs

As we're getting close to the end of the window (finally), I have to say I'm pretty pleased with Liverpool's moves. Bringing in Mignolet, Aspas, Alberto, Cissoko, Toure, and potentially Sakho, Iilori, and Moses/Yarmelenko while hanging on to Suarez is some pretty darn good business. They also offloaded a bunch of players who didn't fit the team anymore (Downing, Reina, Shelvey, Spearing, Carroll, etc...). Not sure if they'll be able to reach 4th, it will largely depend on what Arsenal do in the next day or two and if Tottenham can actually blend their 8 million new players into a team, but I think they'll be in the mix all the way until the end. I also expect them to compete heavily for the FA and Capital One Cups.

On an aside, I wonder what Spurs situation will be if Real Madrid decide to all of a sudden hold them over a barrell w/ regard to Bale now that Spurs have gone out and spent over $100 million on the expectation that they'll get at least $80 million for him. It will definitely be an interesting last couple of days.

No doubt about Hull City. They've played decently thus far. Backbreaking goal, though, for City - and then Toure to finish them off - dang. What a shot. Good on City getting it going there.

Man, Everton needs some quality in their finishing and ASAP. They're really struggling offensively. Something just seems 'off' with their attack from last year. Really impressed with the play Cardiff has put forth 2 weeks in a row. Granted they were at home, but still, for a team expected to do nothing, they've played pretty damn well.

Drag to hear Altidore has a hamstring issue and didn't play today. That probably kills his ability to play in the US qualifiers coming up. GRRR. We need um and he's been on fire for the national side!

Heck yeah. Good on Gerrard sneaking in a bump on Van Persie at the end of the half there. Heh, hard to complain about a half like that, exciting. Very intense and dang, Sturridge keeps getting it done woohoo. Pretty nervous about the 2nd half.

Strange market when a player with 1 stunning season commands that sort of coin. I hope he does well. Bale was really fun to watch with Spurs last season. He scored some goals that made Deadspin use a headline: "Bale scores basically when he wants to". Be interesting to see what moves Madrid make today. That midfield is friggin loaded. Crazy when you have players like Modric and Di Maria not in your starting 11. I read some interesting rumors - but we'll see what happens. There's mumblings of Liverpool looking to add some depth, which would be great. Be nice to upgrade quality in the midfield a bit and possibly a central defender (not sure how long Toure will be out). I'm not certain they are good enough for the 'top 4' with what they have over a long season, but I'm certainly happy as can be with being top of the table and Suarez back in a few weeks (assuming they don't move him today - fingers crossed).

Sakho, Iilori, and Moses all confirmed for Liverpool. Great bit of business there. Wouldn't mind them grabbing another attacking player, but I'm not holding my breath.

Woot! I don't know the other 2, but I know Moses alright from watching him at Chelsea. I really like the energy he brings and his ability to press the attack. Even if Moses is just on loan, it's a welcome addition. I'm pretty happy overall. I just hope the boys keep putting forth a strong effort and stay up on the table.

I was questioning the reasoning behind featuring the Crystal Palace/Sunderland match on TV, but easily was the best match of the weekend. I want to go to Selhurst Park now. That place just looked insane from the pre-match through the very end. I hope they can stay up.

I was questioning the reasoning behind featuring the Crystal Palace/Sunderland match on TV, but easily was the best match of the weekend. I want to go to Selhurst Park now. That place just looked insane from the pre-match through the very end. I hope they can stay up.

And Rebecca Lowe is a Crystal Palace supporter.

The atmosphere is like that at many of the grounds. I've seen England play at Old Trafford. I've been in the away end with hardcore traveling Newcastle fans at Maine Road before Man City got rich, in a thrilling 3-3 draw. St James' Park several times before its renovation into the monstrously lopsided arrangement today.

Hell, back when Oldham Athletic were in the Premiership, I used to live about a mile away from Boundary Park for a while. I still remember hearing the chants and songs. At the time, I went to school and was friends with one of Andy Ritchie's children and we went several times to go watch him play. The atmosphere just about anywhere is incredible.

If you ever end up in the UK, try and get to ANY matches you can. most of them make American sports crowds look tame. Playoff hockey is the closest think I've experienced over here.

I am curious about Arsenal's signing of Ozil. That midfield looks pretty good even without Ozil, I thought they needed more depth in attack. Elsewhere, I'm glad Man Utd signed Fellaini, but could have done better with the other targets. So far, this looks like it's going to be a very interesting season.